Amos 2:8

2:1-8 The evil passions of the heart break out in various forms; but the Lord looks to our motives, as well as our conduct. Those that deal cruelly, shall be cruelly dealt with. Other nations were reckoned with for injuries done to men; Judah is reckoned with for dishonour done to God. Judah despised the law of the Lord; and he justly gave them up to strong delusion; nor was it any excuse for their sin, that they were the lies, the idols, after which their fathers walked. The worst abominations and most grievous oppressions have been committed by some of the professed worshippers of the Lord. Such conduct leads many to unbelief and vile idolatry.

Amos 2:8 . They lay themselves down upon clothes laid to pledge — The Jews as well as the Romans used to lie along at their meals on couches, as appears by this verse, compared with Amos 6:4 : a custom which was continued in after times as is evident by divers passages in the gospels, read in the original, which speak, not of persons sitting, but lying down, or reclining, at meat. As the prophet here speaks of their laying themselves down by every altar, it is manifest he refers to the feasts which were made of part of their idolatrous sacrifices, and were eaten in some of the apartments of their temples, according to the custom both of the Jews and Gentiles.

And the prophet reproves them for three abuses. 1st, That they kept the clothes which they had received as pledges from the poor, contrary to the law, which commanded that the clothes received in pledge should be returned by the going down of the sun: see Exodus 22:6 . 2d, That they made feasts in the houses, or temples, of their idols, or golden calves, no longer coming to the temple at Jerusalem; and, as if to insult the holiness of God’s laws, and to carry the marks of their iniquity even to the feet of their altars, they sat down in their temples upon the garments which they had received in pledge from the poor. 3d, That they caroused at the expense of those on whom they had unjustly laid fines, or, as it is expressed in the text, They drank the wine of the condemned in the house of their god — As drink-offerings, made with wine, were a necessary part of the sacrifices, so some portion of these was likewise reserved for the entertainments that followed. And this the prophet here signifies was bought with the fines or mulcts laid on the innocent.

(8 ) Rapacity and cruelty follow on pride, selfishness, and lust. With this verse compare the provisions of the Mosaic law ( Exodus 22:25 ). Render, And upon garments received in pledge they stretch themselves, and for “condemned” adopt the marginal translation mulcted. The money that had been wrung from those who could not pay, or, who have been sold into slavery, is spent in rioting and feasting. The LXX. read this passage very differently, but the Masoretic text is justified by the translations of the Targum, Aquila, Symmachus, and Jerome. In the house of their god.—Probably here, as in the previous verse, we are to understand the high places of syncretic, or heathenish, Jehovah worship as referred to. “They drank the wine of the amerced. Where? ‘In the house of their God.’ What hardheartedness to the wilfully forgotten poor is compensated by a little church-going! (Pusey.)

And they lay themselves down upon clothes laid to pledge {f} by every altar, and they {g} drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their god. (f) Thinking that by these ceremonies, that is, by sacrificing, and by being near my altar, they may excuse all of their other wickedness. (g) They rob others and offer it to God, thinking that he will exempt them, when he is made partaker of their iniquity.

The Jews of old did not, as we, sit upright at their feasts, and meals, but in a posture of greater ease did lean, or lie on one side; so here they lay themselves down, i.e. put themselves in a feasting posture, upon clothes laid to pledge, of which the law had expressly said none should detain files all night, Deu 14 12,13 . By every altar: impudent sinners, who dare thus before the altar, where they suppose that God is present, bring their crying, inexcusable oppressions; and feast in sacred places, on sacred viands, with bloody minds and oppressive practices; and seek mercy from God when they show, no mercy to the poor! They drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their god; to complete their wickedness, they offer their drink offerings in wine which they bought with the fines and pecuniary mulcts laid on the innocent and guiltless, and thus rejoice in their violence, whilst God hates robbery for a burnt-offering.

8. lay themselves … upon clothes laid to pledge—the outer garment, which Ex 22:25-27 ordered to be restored to the poor man before sunset, as being his only covering. It aggravated the crime that they lay on these clothes in an idol temple. by every altar—They partook in a recumbent posture of their idolatrous feasts; the ancients being in the habit of reclining at full length in eating, the upper part of the body resting on the left elbow, not sitting as we do. drink … wine of the condemned—that is, wine bought with the money of those whom they unjustly fined.

Verse 8. - The prophet condemns the cruel luxury which, contrary to the Law, made the poor debtor's necessities minister to the rich man's pleasures. They lay themselves down upon; Vulgate, accubuerunt. Ewald translates, "they cast lots upon;" but the Authorized Version is supported by the highest authorities, and gives the most appropriate meaning. The Septuagint, with which the Syriac partly agrees, refers the clause to the immoralities practised in heathen worship, which the perpetrators desired to screen from observation, Τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτῶν δεσμεύοντες σχοινίοις παραπετάσματα ἐποίουν ἐχόμενα τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου , "Binding their clothes with cords, they made them curtains near the altar." This is far from the intention of the prophet's words. Upon clothes laid to pledge; or, taken in pledge. The "clothes" ( begadim ) are the large outer garments which formed poor men's dress by day and cover by night, and which, if pledged, were ordered to be returned by nightfall ( Exodus 22:26 , etc.; Deuteronomy 24:12 , etc.). These the hardhearted usurers kept as their own, and reclined luxuriously upon them at their feasts and carousals in their temples. By every altar. At the sacrificial feasts in the temples at Dan and Bethel. They drink the wine of the condemned; Septuagint, οϊνον ἐκ συκοφαντιῶν . Wine obtained by fines extorted from the oppressed. So it is better to translate, "of such as have been fined." In the house of their god.

8 . The self-indulgence, practised by the worldly-minded Israelites in the name of religion, and at the expense of the poor. upon clothes laid to pledge by every altar ] R.V. beside every altar upon clothes taken in pledge. To be understood in connexion with the last clause: the carnally-minded Israelites visit their sanctuaries for the purposes indicated in Amos 2:7 ; they lay themselves down there, with their partners in sin ( Hosea 4:14 ), beside the altars; and to aggravate their offence they repose, not on their own garments, but on garments which they have taken in pledge from men poorer than themselves, and which, in contravention of the Law, Exodus 22:26 f., they have neglected to return before nightfall. The large square outer garment, or cloak, called the salmah , thrown round the person by day, was used as a covering at night; and hence the provision that, if a poor man (whose sole covering it probably would be) were obliged to pawn it, it should be restored to him for the night. every altar ] Not only at Beth-el ( Amos 3:14 ), Gilgal, and Dan ( Amos 3:4 f., Amos 8:14 ), but also, no doubt, at local sanctuaries in many other parts of the land: comp.

Hosea 8:11 ; Hosea 10:1-2 ; Hosea 10:8 ; Hosea 12:11 . drink the wine of the condemned ] R.V. drink the wine of such as have been fined: the fines which they have received—if not, as the context suggests, unjustly extorted—from persons brought before them for some offence, are spent by them in the purchase of wine, to be consumed at a sacrificial feast in their temples. The peace-or thank-offering was followed by a sacred meal, in which the worshippers partook of such parts of the sacrificial victim as were not presented upon the altar or did not become the perquisite of the priest; and at such meals wine would naturally be drunk: cf. (in the same connexion) “to eat and drink,” Exodus 24:11 ; Exodus 32:6 ; Numbers 25:2 ; Jdg 9:27 (“in the house of their god”); also 1 Samuel 1:24 ; 1 Samuel 10:3 . For fined cf. Exodus 21:22 , Deuteronomy 22:19 (A. V., R.V. amerce ), Proverbs 17:26 (see R.V. marg .). god ] or gods , the Hebrew being ambiguous (as is sometimes the case with this word). It is not certain whether the practices referred to were carried on in sanctuaries nominally dedicated to Jehovah, but desecrated by the admixture of heathen rites (as the temple at Jerusalem was in Manasseh’s day), or in sanctuaries avowedly consecrated to Baal ( 2 Kings 10:21 ff; 2 Kings 11:18 ) or other Canaanitish deities.